Spalding is a sporting goods company founded by Albert Spalding in Chicago in 1876 and now headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company specializes in the production of balls for many sports, being perhaps most well known for its basketballs, but it also makes a range of products for baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball, American football and golf.
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History
The company was founded in 1876 when Albert Spalding was a pitcher and the manager of team in Chicago. The company standardized early baseballs and developed the modern baseball bat with the bulge at its apex. In 1892, Spalding acquired Wright & Ditson and A. J. Reach, both rival sporting goods companies.[1]
Spalding produced the well-known "Spaldeen" high-bounce rubber ball, said to be a re-use of defective tennis ball cores, that was sold to city children from 1949.
Spalding became a division of the Russell Corporation in 2003.[2] However, that deal did not encompass Spalding's golf operations, which included the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata brands, which were eventually bought out by Callaway later the same year.[3]
Spalding is a leading producer of basketballs, and has been the official ball supplier to the NBA since 1983. The company also provides the official ball of the Arena Football League, an indoor American football league.
The company was one of the first to use high profile athletes to endorse their products when tennis player Pancho Gonzales was signed to an exclusive endorsement contract.
Baseball
When Albert Spalding, one of the earliest star baseball players, founded his sporting goods store in 1876, he would go on to bring several innovations to the young game. He popularized the use of the baseball glove in 1877, and standardized the baseball itself soon afterward. At one point Spalding, who wrote the first official rule book for baseball, said that only Spalding balls could be used in the National League.[citation needed]
Basketball
Since developing the first basketball in 1894,[4] Spalding has made many technological advancements in relation to basketballs. For example, their Infusion technology features a built in micro pump which allows the user to add air without the need for a pump or needle. This has since been developed to also allow air to be released. Spalding has also developed technology which is designed to prevent air from leaking out as it does in traditional basketballs.
In 2006, Spalding, along with the NBA, announced that they would release a new NBA Official Game Ball, with interlocking segments and made with a synthetic material instead of leather.[5] However, many NBA players complained that the new composite ball became extremely slick after use, wouldn't bounce as high and bounced awkwardly off the rim and backboard. Players also complained that the new ball cut their fingers. As a result, from January 1 2007, the NBA reverted back to the old leather balls.[6]
Photos
 An advertisement from 1888 |
 A Spalding basketball |
 A Spalding soccerball |
References
- ^ "Spalding". Time magazine. February 18, 1929. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737440,00.html#ixzz0Y2JnyrJ5. Retrieved 2009-11-27. "And back in the days when the golfer was viewed with scornful alarm, Mr. Julian W. Curtiss, now Spalding president (Mr. Spalding died in 1915), visited London, learned golf, returned with the clubs and balls from which resulted the manufacture of early U. S. golf equipment."
- ^ "Russell Is Buying Most Of Spalding Sporting Goods Unit". New York Times. April 18, 2003. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E4D6173AF93BA25757C0A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2008-10-15. "The Russell Corporation, the maker of Russell Athletic and Jerzees sportswear, said yesterday that it would buy most of the sporting goods business of Spalding Holdings for $65 million. Spalding makes and sells Dudley brand softballs and Spalding basketballs, volleyballs, footballs and soccer balls. Russell said it would buy the inventory, brand names and contracts of Spalding Sports Worldwide. The transaction does not include Spalding's golf operations. Spalding said it would focus on the golf line, which includes the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata brands."
- ^ "Callaway Golf Beats Out Adidas To Buy Top-Flite". New York Times. September 5, 2003. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501E5DD1E38F936A3575AC0A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ "2006 - 07 NBA primer". Rocky Mountain News. October 31, 2006. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nba/article/0,2777,DRMN_23922_5105755,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ "N.B.A. Is Getting a Grip on a New Synthetic Game Ball". New York Times. June 29, 2006. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E1DC1430F93AA15755C0A9609C8B63. Retrieved 2008-10-15. "This was not a mere ball; it was the National Basketball Association's new game ball, one no longer made of leather but from a composite material by Spalding that has the power to spread perspiration and speed evaporation."
- ^ "N.B.A. Says New Ball Is Not Worth the Pain". New York Times. December 12, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/sports/basketball/12ball.html. Retrieved 2008-10-15. "The synthetic microfiber ball manufactured by Spalding, which also makes the leather basketball, had caused abrasions on players’ and coaches’ hands, a complaint the league could no longer ignore."
External links
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